MINIFIG COLLECTIBLES

The Minifig Collectibles range of detailed customised 3D printed WW1 field artillery & machine guns – designed to use alongside our minifig military soldiers or as a stand alone collectible item.

Minifig Battlefields is on a mission to bring back the creativity of building with customized minifigs and accessories compatible with well-known brick brands, through learning and education. We are model makers specialising in design for 3D printing , established to capture the passion of hobbyists, who collect model soldiers from across many military campaigns, by providing faithful, realistic diorama and scenery and to enable schools during the WW1 centenary commemorations to tell their stories in a different way through animation and visual art.

In commemoration of the centenary of the Great War, we have produced the Minifig Collectibles comprising of a collection of detailed customised 3D printed WW1 field artillery pieces and machine guns. These are made from the latest metal filled filament to give it an authentic metallic feel, mounted on specially designed 3D printed base and housed in a display case. Our Minifig Collectibles have been designed to use alongside our minifig military soldiers.

Our Minifig Collectibles, the Minifig Field Artillery Collection and the Minifig Machine Gun sets are ideal items to commemorate the anniversary of the First World War.

Customised Collectibles

If you would like a specific piece of military equipment, please contact us. We can design and make most military accessories, items, parts across most campaigns. We are experts in design for 3D printing and together with our experience in the correct choice of material, we have already created commissioned items such the Limber.

Let us know what unique military item you would like for your collection

Our Minifig Collectibles, the Minifig Field Artillery Collection and the Minifig Machine Gun sets are ideal items to commemorate the anniversary of the First World War.

Field Artillery & Machine Guns

The main weapons developments prior to WW1 were in machine guns and rapid-fire field artillery guns. The modern machine gun developed in the 1880s and 1890s was a belt-fed gun capable of firing 600 bullets per minute at a range of more than 900m. Development in field artillery saw improved breech loading guns incorporating recoil mechanisms, preventing guns lurching out of position after each shell. For example the French 75mm field gun remained in position enabling sustained firing on a target without readjustment.

Machine guns and rapid-firing artillery, when used in combination with trenches and barbed wire emplacements/entanglements, gave an advantage to defence being able to decimate a frontal assault.

Other military equipment such as the Limber were also used during WW1 to enable storage of artillery shells and transportation using horses.

British 18 Pounder Artillery Field Gun

The Quick Firing (QF) 18 Pounder was the principle Field Gun of the British Army in World War One. Its ammunition had the shell combined with the cartridge thus giving it the description of ‘quick firing’.

The British 18 Pounder Field Artillery Gun was issued to the Royal Artillery in 1904. The gun was an amalgam of design ideas produced by Woolwich Arsenal, the Elswick Works and Vickers. Over the following years many Commonwealth armies also adopted it as their standard field gun. Some were even produce in India.

The gun was modified and improved throughout the war, including the barrel recoil system and increased elevation leading to increased range. In the hands of a well trained team a fire rate of 30 rounds a minute was not unusual.

The French 75mm Field Artillery Gun

The French 75mm field gun with the hydraulic recoil mechanism enabled accurate and rapid fire, without the need to reposition the gun after each shot. The French 75 or ‘soixante-quinze’ earned itself an almost legendary reputation. First developed in 1897 it was one of the first true quick-firing guns by use of a novel hydraulic recoil system, rendering other spring recoil guns virtually obsolete. The mechanism enabled the 75 to fire shells at rates of 28 rounds per minute and stay on target without re-alignment of the gun between shots. The inner workings of the gun were kept highly secret by the French. Even the Americans did not know fully how it worked when they used the gun later in the war.

The German 77mm Artillery Field Gun

The German 77mm field gun was an efficient field gun with a lengthened tube for a greater range.

During the 1890s the German Army asked Krupp to produce a field gun with a calibre of 77mm. This odd size was chosen to prevent the French and Russians, who had 75mm and 76mm weapons, from boring out captured German guns and using them with their own ammunition.

By the start of WW1 it was the German standard field gun. In 1916 a longer barrel was introduced giving it an increased range of fire. From 7000m to 10,300m.

As well as shrapnel and high explosive shells the gun could now fire gas, smoke and illuminating projectiles.

Minifig Machine Gun Sets

Our series of Minifig Machine Gun Set Collectibles compromises of detailed custom 3D printed British Vickers, French Hotchkiss and German MG08 machine guns made from the latest metal filled filament. These Minifig Machine Gun sets housed in a display case are provided with sand bags and two minifig military soldiers.

BRITISH VICKERS MACHINE GUN

Based on the original Maxim gun, Vickers purchased the company and improved the design. It had a reputation for reliability and replaced the Maxim. It could fire up to 600 rounds of ammunition per minute against targets up to 4000m away.

FRENCH HOTCHKISS M1914 Machine Gun

The French Hotchkiss machine gun was developed by the Hotchkiss arms company in France by improved adaptation of an Austrian design after the purchase of the patents in 1893. The gas actuated air cooled machine gun fired 8mm Lebel cartridges and became the standard weapon of the French Army during World War 1, being later also used by the Americans. It could fire 450 rounds per minute, 3800m. It used 24 round strips and later 250 round metal belt fed ammunition.